EVALUATION OF THE CONSTITUTIVE MODEL FOR PREDICTION OF EARTHQUAKE LIQUEFACTION ON EMBANKMENT DAMS

The following graduation project is concerned with the response of embankment dams subjected to earthquake loading. The scope of the project was to determine the applicability of UBC3D-PLM constitutive model implemented in PLAXIS 2D for prediction of the onset of liquefaction in embankments. The project consists of three discrete parts: a)Calibration and evaluation of the effect of critical parameters on the performance of the model through simulation of laboratory tests; b) Simulation of dynamic centrifuge tests on sloping ground and c) the case history of the Upper San Fernando Dam. Through this process, correlations for the model parameters with measured SPT blow-counts were suggested and validated. The effects of the state of the soil, lateral earth pressure coefficient, the damping ratio and static shear were evaluated. And the model was validated in the case of controlled conditions like the ones in the centrifuge and in the field with the case study. In general it has been observed that the model has certain limitations especially when anisotropic initial loading conditions are encountered, but with proper calibration it can provide a good prediction of the pore pressure generation in the embankment

Keywords:

dam dynamic analysis , crest settlement earthquake , , safety evaluation